Oh theres no doubt we got a fucking truckload of lurkers and HP only people, I'm talking about the core of the site. Sure they got here for A, but they stay for A-Z, not just A

 

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I'd happily stay and celebrate when a lot of these people leave. But no matter what we do, I think we're gonna lose a lot of our member base as interest trickles out. It's just something we're gonna have to accept.

I mentioned something like that earlier in the thread, and like Xiphop, I strongly dislike the idea. I'd much rather my Second Forum idea be used...

But Raven said is not as likely because vB changed their license shit...

We've got a pretty good focus on Original. Caliburn and I have talked about at least two separate OF's he's writing. Seratin's talked to me about doing one. I've got one in the works.

Honestly, it isn't the focus we lack. We haven't had a solely HP focus on writing for ages. What we lack is the writers who are interested in jumping in and actually doing it.

This is hard as shit. Especially with our reputation around the internet. We seem to be the Anonymous to the Idiotologists... But who cares. And brings me to ...

...This. I'm honestly shocked anddisappointed to see this from you. The main question is why? What ... I mean, I have never agreed with pandering to peoples egos out there just cause they slap a few poorly strung up words together.

We owe them nothing. If they want to come into our community, I'm all for welcoming them. But fuck changing our five year old site to pander to these fuckheads for any reason.

And doing it solely to fucking extend our lifespan? Kiss my dick.

I think it did that a while ago. >_> But either way.. ¯\(o_º)/¯

 

That could be interesting, but Tinn nonetheless speaks the truth. The majority of our members are not those whom we see.

But it brings up an interesting question, do we really care about them, if we do not interact with them?

I for one, wouldn't mind if HP slowly died out, as long as we kept the Library and WBA as it is.

As for Amer's #6? Worst idea ever. -_- I'd be happy to be nicer to people for a month or so though.

 

Sure is lacking of reading in here.

 

That is not cancelled out by:

 

Amer, SIYE and Portkey have something like triple our members, and they don't require registration to read their story archives. If you think we can swallow up their most dedicated members as they go under without being changed, you're deluded.

 

Actually, it seems pretty clear you were suggesting that very thing. A fair point, we cannot survive if we aren't changing and evolving. But sacrificing our community to fucking play footsy with idiots, retards, and the fucking cultural norm to get a few months?

Perhaps a harsh phrasing, but my point remains the same. If Portkey members want to turn up, more power to them. If SIYE wants to turn up, fine. They've always been welcome before.

So for the sack of my "lack of reading," why do we need to "play nice" now, when we never have before? If they didn't turn up before, I sincerely doubt Portkey going under is gonna draw them here.

 

My point was to accept these guys without hating them for where they come from. That is, not trash them outright cause they mention they like slash and Harry/Ginny in their intro threads.

Don't act like we're 'accepting'. We trolled their fucking forums like idiot /b/tards less than a year or two ago. We need to lose this HURR DRR WE DLP, WE DARK EVIL AND EXCLUSIVE mentality.

As the fandom goes downhill, we'll be turning away members who might otherwise be good fits to this community. They won't be coming here if we keep styling ourselves as DARK LORD POTTER. Keep DLP as an acronym, but something more neutral in name is in order - maybe just DLP.

I'm not suggesting DLP change into kiddy forums, but I do think we should mature slightly, ditch the 'dark lord Harry' logo up top, and lose any vestiges of this 14 year old counter-culture angst we have going on.

 

This is the exact mentality I'm talking about. We're past the point of 'H/Other or nothing'. Most of our active members value quality over who Harry decides to fuck in the story - even if it's H/G.

 

I half-lurk because I find the assholes in DLP funny and like to comment on it at times. Even if the hardcore dlp'ers ended up outnumbered because a mass influx of stupidity came, it wouldn't last. Frankly they'd be assholes long enough and quick enough that idiots abound would leave again.

The only reason I was drawn out of lurking was because of the community. I don't even remember how I stumbled upon DLP but I assume, considering how long ago it was, it was due to some HP fiction. I joined and then became even slightly active due to wanting to participate in the community.

The goal can't be to draw in some lemmings to fill out the numbers. If the goal is to expand the community then doing things like making the IRC explanation more prominent, expanding the library to other ficdoms (off the top of my head, I'd say gaming ones'd be the best, even if at times they're the worst written fanfiction it is that much more important to find the gems in that mess), and obviously decreasing the influence of Potter all over the site.

Stick to the DLP acronym. Considering its meaning to most active members isn't dark lord potter but more this philosophy of an identity. I don't think changing the name of the site would do anything to increase popularity, making it synonymous with a broader subject than HP should be the goal instead.

Otherwise from most of what I've read in the thread everything's been said and repeated that I could see improving in the short term.

 

I think Tinn is pretty much on the ball with this. I am, to a degree, one of these people. I'll venture out into a few other forums and lurk, even infrequently post when I have something to say, but on the whole I come here for the HP fanfiction. If that went, or was diluted, my reasons for coming would basically be gone - the other forums just don't give me anything I don't already get on other forums I frequent for the exact purpose of participating on those kinds of discussions.

With that said, if evolution is what the aim is people ARE right in saying that the way forward is probably other fandoms, but it must not be at the expense of the HP base. Like dumping all the HP fanfiction into a single section? Xiph0 is completely right - that's a dreadful idea that does nothing but hurt the HP base.

With that said, I'm not entirely sure going to this length would be necessary. The best idea would be, imo, to move all of the current HP related 'library' forums to within a dedicated "Harry Potter" parent forum - effectively like the "Multimedia" forum is, just a container for its subforums.

The current "Library" area on the main Index Forum List could then be transformed into a "Fandoms" area, linking to the HP Parent Forum and the Dresden/Naruto/etc libraries directly, rather than hiding the others away as subforums of Other Fandoms. That way the current HP structure stays intact, but it also makes room for other fandoms to be brought forward and made more visible too.

Complete separation seems unnecessary to me, with the only result being a split in the community - those like me who couldn't really care less about other fandoms (with a few small exceptions - Shezza's Denarian Lord series being the main one) staying here, and the progressives moving to the 'new' forum. Just re-organise the structure of the current forums so it's more favourable to the introduction of other fandoms etc and then leave it as it is.

Oh, and changing the name? I'd rather not tbh - we should be proud of our roots, not change them to suit the times, even if HP is dying down somewhat.

 

I get what your saying, Amer... But changing our attitude or not, if SIYE users aren't coming now because of our rep, chances are they're not gonna come rushing in because we say "OHAY! WE GUUD GUISE NAO!"

But the fact remains, we aren't accepting. And like it or hate it, it helps the site, by weeding out people who can't contribute intelligently, it keeps people from thinking they can sweep in and bitch to an admin that User X is being a dick and needs to be banned just because they don't like the shit they wrote and is being harsh about it...

If someone from SIYE wants to come and join, let them. Yes, they're going to have to work to prove their intelligence, that they rnt n3t tlkn newbs ho use u wen thy mean you.

And before anyone says anything; YES, they should have to do it.

 

Ah, I get you now, and yeah I can see that. I've always advocated not cutting the throats of the newbies until they've had time to unretard themselves from the other fandom sites.

Lol Sree, play nice =P

 

Ok, I haven't really commented before now because everything I would suggest has been suggested already. I do think Amer has a point though, and you guys (Sree in particular) are overreacting to it. How many of us started off as H/G as our main pairing and slowly evolved into having better taste. Sure there are always going to be idiots out there that are going to think it's the end all be all and act like little shits about it (or just have dumb posts in general); but there's nothing to say that they can't be banned.

If we give them a fair chance to learn how to fit in then I think we could gain a lot more members that are intelligent posters. As much as we would all like to think DLP holds every elite mind in the fanfiction community, we don't. Just my 2 cents, and to clarify I'm not saying do a 180 on our attitude. Far from it. Just give them a chance to learn to not be fuck-ups. Also is there a way to ban someone just from posting but allow them to see the site? Because that could be very helpful to newbs. (Don't know if that's what it does now.)

 

Aren't we doing that already? We already are nice in introductions, except for blatant trolls and multi-accounters. I really doubt in intelligence of people who post without reading rules first, and I doubt it twice as much when they are told to in their intros but still don't.

Log out / clear cookies.

 

DLP is definitely nicer in introductions. It used to be like being lowered into aqua regia...now it's more like vinegar.